Barclays to end its sponsorship of Boris Bikes
BARCLAYS will not renew its sponsorship of the London bicycle hire scheme when it ends in 2015, it confirmed last night.
The bank signed a deal worth £50m to sponsor the bikes, named colloquially after London mayor Boris Johnson, in 2010.
But in a joint statement with Transport for London, Barclays said it will not extend its sponsorship beyond its original five-year term, despite the mayor announcing in 2011 that it would continue to support the scheme until 2018.
A joint statement from TfL and Barclays strongly denied that the bank had pulled out of the deal, adding: “In recognition of the growing demand for cycling expenditure, TfL is to seek new commercial partners to add significant sponsorship income to the £913m already devoted to cycling. There will be no reduction in public funds spent on the cycling programme.”
A spokesman for Barclays said the decision to stop supporting the scheme was not down to a recent spate of bike deaths on London roads, which have sparked protests by the city’s cyclists.
In July, Philippine De Gerin-Ricard, a French student, was knocked down and killed by a lorry while riding one of the sponsored bikes.
A new tendering process for sponsorship of the bikes will be announced in due course, a TfL spokesman confirmed last night.
He declined to comment on which companies might be involved.
Sadiq Khan MP, the shadow London minister, who is also rumoured to be planning a bid to become London Mayor, criticised Boris Johnson’s handling of the bike scheme.
“Londoners are suffering the consequences of having a part-time mayor more interested in becoming the leader of the Tory party than making commuting easier.”